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after I type "gem install rails" into the cmd, it hangs on "Updating Gem Source index for: http://gems.rubyforge.org". I've been searching the net for a solution but can't find one. Others seem to have the problem but no solution I've found works. Anyone familiar with this problem?

gem install will install the named gem. It will attempt a local installation (i.e. a .gem file in the current directory), and if that fails, it will attempt to download and install the most recent version of the gem you want.

Looks like just dump it in the current directory and do gem install NAME

You are experiencing the dreaded firewall syndrome on XP. If you have ZoneAlarm installed or a few of the other similar firewalls, these programs interfere with the way that ruby accesses sockets on a windows system. It won't help to just turn off the firewall either, you have to completely uninstall it. It sucks because you really need a firewall on Windows but I have seen this same problem on the rails mailing list at least 20 times. gem hangs at the same line you mentioned and the only way to fix it is to uninstall Zone Alarm or similar firewalls.

You are experiencing the dreaded firewall syndrome on XP. If you have ZoneAlarm installed or a few of the other similar firewalls, these programs interfere with the way that ruby accesses sockets on a windows system. It won't help to just turn off the firewall either, you have to completely uninstall it. It sucks because you really need a firewall on Windows but I have seen this same problem on the rails mailing list at least 20 times. gem hangs at the same line you mentioned and the only way to fix it is to uninstall Zone Alarm or similar firewalls.

Good Luck

Ok. I read on a site that ZoneAlarm could be the cause so I shut it down but still no luck. I guess I'll uninstall now and give it a go. I hope this works because I'm getting no where with the manual install.

after I type "gem install rails" into the cmd, it hangs on "Updating Gem Source index for: http://gems.rubyforge.org". I've been searching the net for a solution but can't find one. Others seem to have the problem but no solution I've found works. Anyone familiar with this problem?

It happened to me too. I had ZoneAlarm and had to uninstall it to make it work.